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Elizabeth Nicks was a 12-year-old cheerleader who was being held in the air by three fellow cheerleaders when they lost their grip and she fell to the ground. A spotter was not in the proper position to catch her.

She went to a hospital with what was diagnosed as a relatively minor bleeding in her brain, a potentially dangerous situation that calls for careful monitoring. After five days in the hospital Elizabeth came home, even though she showed signs that her hematoma had grown larger. If she had been given a CT scan before being discharged her medical providers would have seen the hematoma had grown and would have operated. But there was no CT scan, and the first morning she was home she was found unresponsive with massive brain damage causing mental deficiencies and paralysis. She will require continuous care for the rest of her life.

Elizabeth’s parents reached a settlement that could cover the cost of Elizabeth’s care, but the MICRA cap, unchanged since 1975, limits the compensation they will receive for the loss of their child’s ability to have a noramal life, and everything they will have to go through as a result, to just $250,000.